News Article

By: BILL JONES/Staff Writer
Source: The Greeneville Sun
03-06-2006

More than 80 Greeneville-based Tennessee Army National Guardsmen were honored on Sunday morning at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center (NPAC) for their service in Iraq last year.

About 150 family members and friends watched as the "citizen-soldiers" of Troop G of the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 2nd Squadron of the 278th Regimental Combat Team were recognized during a “Freedom Salute” program that began shortly after 8:30 a.m. at the NPAC.

During the ceremony, each Troop G soldier received a folded American Flag in a glass and wood display case, a ceremonial coin, a medallion and lapel pins to commemorate their service to their country.

The soldiers, who were clad in the desert-camouflage uniforms they had worn in Iraq, came forward one at a time as Maj. Brad Bowlin, the master of ceremonies, called their names in alphabetical order.

As they moved across the NPAC stage to receive the commemorative items, the soldiers also were congratulated by Brig. Gen. David Greer, Tennessee's assistant adjutant general – Army, and an official party that included Lt. Col. Frank McCauley, commander to the 278th RCT's Kingsport-based 2nd Squadron, and Capt. Wiley Hammer, Troop G's commanding officer.

During remarks made prior to the presentation of commemorative items to Troop G soldiers, Brig. Gen. Greer said the "Freedom Salute Campaign" had been launched to formally thank National Guardsmen for their service in Iraq and Afghanistan and to thank their families and communities "for sacrifices made" while the citizen-soldiers were deployed on active duty.

"The Army National Guard's G Troop (represents) what is good about America," Brig. Gen. Greer noted. "We are the community. The Army National Guard traces its roots back to 1636. We’re older than the Army.

"Homeland defense is what we were founded on. It was our mission from day one, and we will continue to do that so long as we have the support of our great communities and support of soldiers who volunteer to serve their state and nation."

Among the Troop G soldiers was Daniel W. Reed, of New Market, who suffered a serious hand injury while Troop G was training at Camp Shelby, Miss., in August 2004, prior to deployment to Iraq in November 2004.

Reed, who dressed in civilian clothes on Sunday, was injured in an accident that involved the firing of a mortar, a weapon that fires explosive shells in a high arc, a National Guard spokesman said in 2004.

Sgt. Thomason Remembered

Maj. Bowlin, who is a Greeneville resident, noted during his remarks that an empty chair had been left in the seating area reserved for the soldiers.

The vacant chair was in memory of Sgt. Paul W. Thomason III, 37, the only Troop G soldier killed in Iraq.

"He was a hero," his widow, Amanda Thomason, said of her husband during a 2004 interview. "He was my best friend, and the best father a child could ever have."

In addition to his widow, Thomason left behind four children.

A memorial fund has been established by Troop G soldiers to pay for construction of a memorial to Sgt. Thomason at the Greeneville National Guard Armory off Hal Henard Road, Maj. Bowlin said.

During the Sunday morning ceremony, American Legion Post 64 Commander David Foshie and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1990 Commander Gary Hensley presented financial contributions to the memorial fund from their posts.

Not present for the Sunday morning ceremony was Sgt. Lester Carey, a Troop G soldier from Bean Station who remains on "medical hold" at Fort Gordon, Ga.

He had returned to the U.S. for surgery last year before the rest of the unit returned.

Carey's wife, Teresa Carey, who formerly headed the unit's Family Readiness Group, picked up her husband's commemorative items after the ceremony.

Medals Presented

Also during the ceremony, Brig. Gen. Greer pinned medals awarded for service in Iraq on the chests of two Troop G soldiers.

Receiving the Bronze Star medal were 1st Sgt. Everett Ottinger, a Greeneville resident who was first sergeant of Erwin-based H Company of the 278th RCT's 2nd Squadron in Iraq, and Sgt. 1st Class Samuel Randall III, a Troop G member who was in charge of the mortar platoon of the Headquarters Troop of the 278th’s 2nd Squadron in Iraq.

After the ceremony, 1st Sgt. Ottinger also was given a ceremonial, black Stetson "cavalry hat" during a Troop G formation outside the NPAC.

In addition, Robert E. "Bob" Purgason, a retired Troop G non-commissioned officer, received the Tennessee National Guard's Distinguished Service Medal for his efforts on the unit's behalf both before and during its deployment to Iraq.

Maj. Bowlin noted after the ceremony that three other Bronze Star medals had been awarded to Troop G soldiers while the unit was still in Iraq. Those who received the medals there were Capt. Hammer, Sgt. 1st Class Darwin Jones and Sgt. lst Class Ronnie Houston, the major said.

Center of Excellence Awards

Also during the ceremony, two civilians with close ties to Troop G received "17-inch-tall bronze Minuteman statues and a framed flag mosaics" for support of the unit and soldiers' families during Troop G's deployment to Iraq.

Maj. Bowlin referred to the awards presented to Peggy Jones, a member of Troop G's Family Readiness Group and the wife of Sgt. 1st Class Darwin Jones, and Jimmy Feezell, a retired Troop G non-commissioned officer who came out of retirement to work at the Greeneville Armory while Troop G soldiers were deployed, as Center of Excellence and Distinguished Center of Excellence awards.

Also recognized during the Sunday morning event for their support of Troop G while the unit was deployed were local political and community leaders.

Recognized were: State Sen. Steve Southerland, R-1st, of Morristown; state Rep. David Hawk, R-5th, of Greeneville; state Rep. Eddie Yokley, D-11th, of Greene County; Greeneville Mayor Darrell Bryan; Greene County Mayor Roger Jones; Greeneville Police Chief Mack Jones; Greene County Sheriff Steve Burns; Greene County Road Superintendent J.C. Jones; John Jones, editor of The Greeneville Sun; Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1990 Commander Hensley; American Legion Post 64 Commander Foshie; and Greeneville High School U.S. Air Force Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps Instructor Master Sgt. Kent Lyon.

Service in Iraq Recalled

The Guardsmen returned to Greeneville last fall after serving on active duty for 18 months, including a year in Iraq.

Troop G's soldiers served in several different locations in Iraq.

According to a press release, Troop G soldiers:

• provided security during two elections;

• conducted almost 1,000 patrols, many of them at night, plus daily sniper operations;

• conducted more than 20 raids, detaining over 50 insurgents; and

• helped its squadron sustain an operational maintenance readiness rate that was one of the highest in the theater of operations.

Troop G National Guardsmen, and other members of the 278th Regimental Combat Team from Northeast Tennessee, left home for active duty on Father's Day 2004 and returned home last November.

Sunday morning's Freedom Salute ceremony was one of a series of such events that are being held across the state to thank Tennessee Army National Guardsmen of the 278th RCT for their service on active duty in Iraq last year, Maj. Bowlin said.

Sun Photo by Phil Gentry - The audience stands as the citizen-soldiers of Greeneville-based Troop G of the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 278th Regimental Combat Team continue to file into seats at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center on Sunday morning.

Story Copyright to Greene County Online